‘Water Writes’ mural in Phoenix part of global initiative

By Amy B WangThe Republic | azcentral.comFri May 10, 2013 9:53 AM

Downtown Phoenix might seem an unlikely place for an oversize mural about the desert’s scarcest resource — water — but the city is now home to a “Water Writes” mural, part of a global public-arts initiative that seeks to educate people about water use.

In less than two weeks, artists and residents gathered to transform the south-facing wall of the Valley Youth Theatre, at First and Fillmore streets, into an enormous mural titled “Water is Life.” The 2,466-square-foot art piece was unveiled last week.

The project makes Phoenix one of only about a dozen locations in the world (one is yet to be built) with a “Water Writes” mural. The others are in California, Honolulu, British Columbia, Colombia, El Salvador, the Gaza Strip, the Philippines and South Africa. Each chosen locale faces “critical water issues,” according to the Estria Foundation, a non-profit group heading the project.

“What we’re trying to do is show the importance of water in Arizona and where the city of Phoenix as well as the surrounding cities get their water from,” said artist Jeff Slim, one of about 15 local artists who contributed to the design of the mural.

Two weeks ago, the artists outlined each of the main pieces of the design — fruits, vegetables and plants — for a small army of 75 volunteers to fill in with paint the next day.

“We made it simple enough so that everyone could come out and do it so that they could have their own contribution to the wall,” Slim said. “I mean, that’s what it’s all about with the community-based murals is to involve everybody.”

Like other “Water Writes” murals around the world, the one in Phoenix reflects elements of Arizona culture. The mountains in the background include textile patterns specific to the state’s Native American tribes. The fruits, vegetables and plants that line the bottom of the mural are all native to the state.

The mural depicts water feeding vegetation, as well as coal-mining operations in the Navajo Nation.

“With the mural we’re trying to portray how the water is used and how it is being misused,” Slim said.

In the center of the mural is a naked woman representing Mother Earth, pregnant with what appears to be identical twins. The twins represent the duality of good and evil, Slim said, and the choices that people can make with their environment and lives that have an effect on future generations.

“To get a mural of this caliber, with such a great story, is a big win for downtown,” said Terry Madeksza, vice president of the Downtown Phoenix Partnership.

Along with the Estria Foundation, local groups Black Mesa Water Coalition, Tonatierra, PUENTE and the Phoenix Revitalization Corporation also pitched in to make the mural a reality.

Although downtown Phoenix already has dozens of murals — huge and tiny, planned and unplanned — the “Water Writes” mural is the largest and most significant one within the group’s 90-square-block focus area, said R.J. Price, spokesman for the Downtown Phoenix Partnership.

“That’s why the Valley Youth Theatre mural was such a huge, huge deal for us, because it’s actually a really cool piece of art within our 90 square blocks,” Price said. “Hopefully, it can blaze a trail for other projects similar to it.”

In conjunction with the “Water Writes” mural, the Downtown Phoenix Partnership is soliciting ideas for how to transform the empty dirt lot between the mural wall and the adjacent Arizona State University building, dubbed “the Space Between.” So far, submissions have included everything from a community garden, a skateboard park and volleyball courts to a splash pad and a shaded area for chess and checkers tables.

Price said it is too early to predict what will become of the space — any decisions would likely wait until ASU students return after the summer break and there is a “critical mass” of people again — but the group already plans to install more bike racks.

The group hopes that the mural will spur development of a lot that has long gone underused.

“Now that there’s an identifier on that lot, it makes it easier for people to know what we’re talking about,” Price said.

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